EA Sports is going through a tricky portion of their release schedule right now. With the next-generation of consoles set to drop soon, games like FIFA 14 will be released twice in the span of two months. At the same time, they also have to ensure that both products deliver a satisfying experience.

FIFA 14, developed by EA Canada, delivers the same game that fans of the series have come to expect on a yearly basis, with a few key changes that help with its re-playability.

While the current-gen versions don’t use the new EA Ignite engine, they still hold up well.

The game is still free-flowing, which means one good pass still leads to a highlight reel goal. The way to make those passes however, has slightly changed. In FIFA 13, skill moves required the player to use the LT button in correlation with the Right Stick (RS) (on the PS#). This year, you don’t have to hold down LT, and it simplifies the process by a small margin. This doesn’t mean the game is easier by any means; just a bit more streamlined.

It also feels like the passing game has been refined a lot this year. Depending on which settings the player uses – assisted tackling being an example – your AI teammates react to a pass or defensive play with more efficiency than in years past. This was very apparent on FIFA 14’s lower difficulty levels.

As a disclaimer, I played most of the game was played at the Semi-Pro difficulty, though I played a few matches at higher levels to get a sense of how they felt. My issue isn’t that the opponents’ AI was smarter, but that my own team’s players felt like they got dumber. Passes that normally would connect easily were missing players because they’d over-run the ball or simply stay put. It changes the strategy that the player gradually learns as the increases the difficulty and it doesn’t seem like the natural progression of skills.

This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to play the game on a higher difficulty though. Also, the satisfaction of scoring a goal is significantly amplified as well.

Playing Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany at Centre-Back, with Joe Hart in goal, will lead to better chemistry in Ultimate Team.

One of the more interesting features in FIFA 14 is the Ultimate Team mode. In this mode, you build a team consisting only of the players found in a booster pack, or buy on the transfer market. On a team-building level, it plays a lot like a trading card game. You get points per match that can be used in the store to buy booster packs of varying levels. The gold packs will consist of rarer cards as well as the newly added legends to the feature.

Completing certain tasks while playing a match like winning a corner kick or even scoring a goal, get you more player points. These points can also be used on the transfer market to buy specific players, yet they obviously cost more than a booster pack.

The big change to this mode is the impact of team chemistry during an Ultimate Team match. Soccer stars of the same nationality, club or league, will have more familiarity with each other and so you’ll want to try and place these cards in the right positions to get the ideal formation.

FIFA 14 will be coming to the PS4 and Xbox One, with a new in-game engine that hopes to impress.

In concept, the Ultimate Team mode is a great idea, as it leads to tons of re-playability, especially for a sports game. Fans of the sport can also build a team of their favourite players, even if they don’t cheer for a specific team and it makes online games more unpredictable. That being said, you should still expect to see a lot of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo online.

In execution though, this mode shows a few flaws. Each player card has a set number on their contract, which means they can only be used in a specific amount of matches. To keep using that card, the player has to use a “contract” card, which can be found in booster packs. Because of the importance of these cards, the boost packs don’t give out as many player cards on certain occasions. Farming up enough coins to unlock a high level “contract” card can take a while as well.

A workaround to this is to play the higher level seasons and tournaments, though depending on the skill level, the player is not always guaranteed enough coins.

One of the biggest issues with the game however, is the use of an always online component for the Ultimate Team mode; even for the single player version of it.

There were numerous occasions where I would be disconnected from Xbox Live while I was in the middle of playing an Ultimate Team match, and it would boot me back out to the main menu. This was when I was facing the AI.

Want to go more in-depth with a friend in FIFA 14? Play the co-op season.

I can’t think of many reasons why this was the case. The Ultimate Team info could be saved onto the hard-drive; same with the tournament stats. I could also understand if I was facing another player online, but that wasn’t the case here. It also wasn’t like the disconnecting issues were far and few; in fact, they happened in consecutive matches. It also wasn’t an issue with my internet connection, as everything else on the network was working perfectly fine.

This took me out of an otherwise fun and interesting experience all too often to ignore, and is something they can hopefully fix for future versions of FIFA 14.

The game is as visually pleasing as years past. With new consoles releasing soon though, don’t expect to be blown away by it. The presentation level is just as high as in previous versions and it is safe to say that EA Sports have perfected that element of their games. The soundtrack appeals to a wide audience, with tracks from several parts of the world. It truly is a multicultural score.

Even if EA Sports chose to make minor tweaks, as opposed to a complete overhaul, it doesn’t make the game less impressive. It’s still a fun multiplayer experience, online and offline. On the lower levels, the FIFA 14 is easy enough to simply pick up and play.

FIFA 14 came out on Sept 24. 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Wii, as well as mobile platforms and handheld systems 3DS and PS Vita. To find out how FIFA 14 stacks up against Pro Evolution Soccer 14, check out my comparison of the two franchises.